Mobile health applications running on modern smartphones enable medical providers (such as physicians and nurses) to perform important functions that aid the health of their patients, such as monitoring the patients' levels of exercise and exchanging information related to ongoing treatment. A particular application is that of prescriptive intervention, whereby an electronic message sent by (or on behalf of) the medical provider contains information that serves to motivate, inform, or warn the patient in order to improve his or her health as part of a preventive care program. Given the ubiquity and popularity of smartphones, many hospitals and clinics are already implementing such systems (e.g., sending SMS text messages on a daily basis to remind the patient, who is a user of a smartphone, to reduce smoking).
Current mobile health intervention messaging lack personalization, however, something that is desired by patients to help motivate them. Given the need to provide preventive care to hundreds or thousands of patients, it is understandable that medical providers may not have the time or other resources to create personally-written messages for each patient. As a result, it is commonly the case that messages are generic, pre-written, and derived from standard medical suggestions, such as those from the National Institute of Health. Examples of such messages include “eat fish instead of beef,” “less smoking will reduce the risk of heart attack,” and “walk for 30 minutes each day.” Clinical trials have already found that patients desire more personalization that will help them reach their health goal, such as reducing weight or smoking less.